Climate Conversations: A Climate Change Podcast

After a whole season of climate justice episodes, the ClimateX team and podcast producer Dave Lishansky step back and take stock. How has our understanding of climate justice evolved? What voices and stories have stuck with us? The team discusses recurring themes, such as visibility issues, collaboration across social divides, institutional oppression, and intersectionality. They also explore areas of difference among the guests (and among themselves), such as whether capitalism is inherently exploitation or can be a force for social good. The episode and the season end with dreaming big: if you could wave a magic wand to correct one injustice, anywhere in the world, what would it be?

The Climate Conversations team sits down with the director of the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative, Jason Jay, to discuss the role of market forces and government regulation in climate action. They discuss the theoretical framework of capitalism, and how it can lend itself to benevolent practices as well as exploitative ones. Jay and the team analyze geopolitical interests in fossil fuels and alternative energies, and transitional practices. Lastly, they discuss Jay’s research and recent book on “breaking through the gridlock” in difficult conversations. How do we move past the certainty of our own perspectives, and really engage with dissenting voices? The team looks at the power of shared values and how to foster authentic connections, in order to unlock new and better solutions.

The Climate Conversations team sits down with Jacqui Patterson, the Director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program. They discuss intersectionality within the climate justice movement, and how global warming disproportionately impacts women of color. Looking at impacts on reproductive rights and poverty, the Climate Conversations team and Patterson analyze how local movements are utilized to combat environmental and racial injustice. The conversation then looks at capitalism’s role in injustice, and how prioritizing amassing wealth for elites disregards the earth’s well-being and human rights. Finally, the team examines mobilization strategies that take into account the interconnectivity of justice issues across individuals and institutions.

On this week of Climate Conversations, the team sits down with Ramón Bueno; a MIT alumnus and climate and development specialist. They discuss the devastation in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, in the context of systems failure and intersectional justice. Bueno outlines the significance of the centralized power system in Puerto Rico, and how its reliance on fossil fuels has failed the people of Puerto Rico. To avoid similar failures in the future, he advocates decentralizing power systems via developing micro grids, as well as developing electricity infrastructure that is more resilient in extreme weather events. Bueno and the team also look at how the hurricane amplified social and economic justice issues. There are many opportunities in the crisis for addressing those issues while increasing initiatives to reduce poverty. The conversation closes with highlights of what communities both in Puerto Rico and in the greater Boston area, have undertaken to mobilize for immediate needs as well as social and environmental justice longer term.

In this special podcast, we sit down with Marteen van Aalast to discuss climate resilience and his role in the Climate CoLab A2R contest. Van Aalst is the director of the Climate Center and coordinates support to climate risk management across the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement. Van Aalst explains how the UN’s A2R initiatives (Anticipate, Absorb, Reshape), which launched at Paris COP21; he helps implement protection and resources for vulnerable communities during environmental crises. He utilizes the scientific capacity to translate forecasts into humanitarian action. He also discusses the current ClimateCoLab competition on developing climate risk insurance solutions, to help protect those most vulnerable to environmental issues. All are encouraged to explore and contribute to the latest competition, co-sponsored by UN A2R, which seeks new ways to couple climate risk insurance with other social protections to help vulnerable communities absorb climate impacts. Visit climatecolab.org to learn more.

How can we get more families involved in environmental justice? The Climate Conversations team sits down with Zeyneb Magavi, a leader in Mothers Out Front in Cambridge, MA. Zeyneb wears multiple hats as an activist with Mothers Out Front, Research Director for HEET, and a member of the Gas Leaks Allies. They discuss how mothers sharing a strong interest in protecting their children’s future cuts across boundaries, as well as how Mothers Out Front’s grassroots relationship building approach sets itself apart from other groups’ goal of securing a better future for their children through climate justice. Also of wide interest is hearing about Mothers Out Front’s groundbreaking work with allies to address gas leaks through direct negotiation with three regional gas utilities. Finally, we hear about the campaign Mothers Out Front in Cambridge is soon to launch - “Bring Paris Home” - to motivate residents to make energy efficiency choices. How can relationship-based initiatives affect positive change?

The Climate Conversations team interviews Dr. Kyle Powys Whyte, a Professor of Philosophy and Community Sustainability at Michigan State -- about indigenous views of climate change and climate justice. As a context for understanding those views, Dr. Whyte outlines how the legacy of colonialism, capitalism, and other systems of domination affected indigenous populations in North America. We also heard about efforts to surface just climate solutions that respect indigenous traditions, while amplifying the voices of contemporary indigenous peoples. Dr. Whyte concludes by describing his work with colleagues and allies to incorporate indigenous approaches into environmental research and education; highlighting a recent conference on “Being Human in the Age of Humans”.

The Climate Conversations team sits down with Tom Kiley, the organizer of the Northeastern North American Climate Policy Summit hosted by MIT in December, 2017. They discuss key results and takeaways from the event, how to strengthen ties between researchers and policy makers, and interdisciplinary approaches to climate action. The team also chats about the value of in-person connections, options for building on the Summit's momentum - particularly supporting greater regional and cross-disciplinary collaboration.

What is climate justice? How do we come up with solutions that not only recognize that climate change disproportionally impacts marginalized people, but amplify the voices of those in frontline communities? We sit down with Lisa Young, the Climate Justice Partnerships Organizer for the Better Future Project and discuss the evolution of the term “climate justice”, and the ways in which those who contribute the least to climate change suffer the most. We discuss how not only the solutions to environmental justice issues must be intersectional, but the process by which we reach those solutions. Policy changes and technological innovations will only take us so far in the fight for climate justice, we must lift up the work and voices of everyone impacted. Young and the Climate Conversations team talk about the history of mistrust and exclusion in the environmental movement. We analyze how to recognize that history and rebuild relationships moving forward; in what Young describes as a “broader-based progressive network”. How can we get everyone involved in climate action, and recognize the contributions of frontline communities?

Have justice issues changed, or are we standing still? These are the questions we’re asking Trish Weinmann, the Associate director of Radius, a place for the MIT community to discuss issues of justice and equity. Trish explains to us the role that Radius plays in helping the MIT community reflect on complex justice issues such as climate change, and how they have turned these reflections into action.

This week, the Climate Conversations team are joined by Zak Accuardi, a Senior Program Analyst at TransitCenter, and former research fellow at Project Drawdown. Zak explains how improvements to public transportation can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while improving the lives of a community's disadvantaged people. Zak and the team explore some of the choices both travelers and urban land use planners need to make in promoting a healthy climate. We also discuss Zak’s role in Project Drawdown, which identifies the 100 most impactful climate change solutions that we can access immediately, and ask Zak about its future.

This week, we’re joined by Mike Wilson, graduate student at MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning. We discuss transformative adaptation, and how planners can develop green infrastructures whilst improving the lives of everyone in our global society. Mike explains how future planning in Boston needs to communicate with local communities to discover their lived experiences, and use these to inform future plans.

This special episode is part of MIT’s Together in Climate Action Summit, which is focused on sharing climate leadership strategies and exploring pathways forward in Northeastern North America. In this episode, we interview Deb Markowitz, a former six-term Vermont Secretary of State, and Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. Currently, Markowitz is currently a visiting professor in Environmental Policy and Leadership at the University of Vermont. We discuss how state power and regional action can be leveraged to combat climate change in light of the United States plan to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. Deb highlights how carbon pricing, market-driven policies, leadership, and ideology can produce meaningful change and measurable economic and environmental benefits. We also discuss the success of RGGI cap-and-trade system, and how inter-state cooperation on carbon emissions and environmental policy can lead when federal policies lag.

This special episode is part of MIT’s Together in Climate Action Summit, which is focused on sharing climate leadership strategies and exploring pathways forward in Northeastern North America. In this episode, we interview Professor John Fernandez, Director of the Environmental Solutions Initiative at MIT and an expert in urban metabolism  – the flows of material and energy that sustain growing cities and their ecosystems. We discuss how natural systems can mitigate and help society adapt to climate change as urban areas expand rapidly and globally. John highlights how healthy forests, wetlands, and soils help limit carbon, keep air and water clean, and limit risks from extreme weather.  We also discuss how technology (e.g. sensors, AI) can work in service of nature. John stresses the need to understand and manage our urban metabolism by coordinating natural systems policies across states and regions. If you’d like to learn more about the Together in Climate Action Summit, which runs December 7th & 8th 2017, visit climatesummit.mit.edu

This special episode is part of MIT’s Together in Climate Action Summit, which is focused on sharing climate leadership strategies and exploring pathways forward in Northeastern North America. We interview Dr. David Cash, former commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Public Utilities, and dean of the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston. David explains the roles that governments can play in providing the right regulations and opportunities for sustainability to grow and thrive at the state and regional levels. David illustrates these roles with specific cases from his experience creating multi-state collaboration (e.g., Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative) and state-level legislation (e.g., Green Communities Act and the Global Warming Solutions Act). We also discuss the importance of equity and justice in creating good policy. If you’d like to learn more about the Together in Climate Action Summit, which runs December 7th & 8th 2017, visit climatesummit.mit.edu